Abstract: The functioning of marine ecosystems is driven by a multitude of biological interactions that regulate nutrient fluxes in the ocean. Other marine bacteria have evolved various mechanisms of interaction with neighboring cells, for example extracellular vesicles (EVs)1. Here, we show a new mechanism of direct interaction between marine cyanobacteria, the intercellular membrane nanotubes (NTs). NTs are membrane-coated tubular structures connecting two cells that allow the transport of cytoplasmic components between them. Here, we present evidence of inter-and intra-genus exchange of cytoplasmic material between neighboring and distant cells of cyanobacteria mediated by NTs. We show that NTs are produced between living cells, suggesting that this is a relevant system to exchange material in vivo2.

Our group is also interested in studying how EVs and NTs can modulate the nutrient fluxes
in the ocean. For that, we are investigating how MVs might affect the growth of cyanobacterial strains when added to cultures under nutrient-limiting conditions; and whether NTs allow the transport of different metabolites by using nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS).

References:
1. Biller, S.J. et al., Science, 343, 2014.
2. Angulo-Cánovas, E et al., Sci. Adv. 10 (21)2024.